It is hard to believe that the upcoming horror movie was the hard work of local students and lecturers, but that is the beauty of ‘Realms’. The film is the culmination of their 8-month’s struggle – a product of Universiti Teknologi Mara’s (UiTM) Faculty of Film, Theatre and Animation, under its very own production company, FiTA Studios Sdn Bhd.

’Realm’, a thrilling supernatural Thailand horror movie will hit the cinemas in Malaysia on January 18.

And the malaysian production house is now world-class as it partners with prestigious Paramount Pictures for distribution of the film across international markets.

FiTA Studios’ chief executive officer Latiff Mohaideen said he was honoured that a local product would get such international debut.

“This film is in fact the first product by a local university that receives international recognition. We have already received overwhelming positive praise after the previews and now we are hoping for words of mouth to get the moviegoers watch it once it hits the cinemas,” he told Higher Education Today when met at at Intekma Resort and Convention Centre.

The film is slated to be screened in cinemas here on 18 January, while it will be released worldwide on Feb 28.

Latiff said the film was special as a total of 40 students and eight lecturers took part in the pre-production, production and post-production of the film.

“These students and lecturers were involved in numerous process, from casting, script-reading, role-play to the marketing of the film. It was not only a good training ground for the students especially to get the real-time working experience, but in FiTA Studios, we encourage them to think global and go global in the making of quality films,” he said.

FiTA Studios is a full-fledged entertainment house that produces films, television programmes and documentaries that promote nation-building, among others. It is said to be the first of such studios to be built in malaysian universities.

Co-produced by Film Frame Productions (Thailand), ’Realms’ is a thrilling supernatural Thailand horror movie that is set against the backdrop of Bangkok, Thailand.

It is not the first time FiTA Studios garnered attention in the film industry. Recently, the production studio screened its first movie, ‘Chowrasta’ in over 1,000 cinemas in Southern India.

The 2015 biopic, based on former UiTM vice-chancellor Tan Sri Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar’s childhood, youth and journey to academic success, was dubbed in Tamil specially for audiences in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Asked on the selection of Thailand horror flick to go international, Latiff said the decision was made after taking into account the country’s population and film market.

“We choose Thailand as from the very beginning, the Thai’s film market is already international. We are also aware of their huge population and we strongly believe that ‘Realms’ will be able to be a hit in the country and worldwide,” he said.

The film also stars two Hollywood actors. Photo courtesy FiTA Studios.

’Realm’, a thrilling supernatural Thailand horror movie is set against the backdrop of Bangkok, Thailand. Photo courtesy FiTA Studios.

The film was produced at the cost of USD2 million. Latiff said he is expecting for the film to collect RM5 million of ticket sales in Malaysia and to hit USD10 million mark worldwide.

“Nobody believed me when I say FiTA Studios is part of UiTM. Nobody thought we could go this big, but after 2 years of hard work in producing ‘Realms’, we can say we nailed it,” Latiff said, ending the interview.